Mark Ramsden (born 13 July 1956,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England) is a British writer, composer, producer and musician. He studied at Leeds Music College before becoming a professional saxophonist and flautist. Since finishing his education he has been active in

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, but he is more famous for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music, both as a performer and composer.

Career

Much of the 1980s and 1990s saw him playing with artists such as

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

, Roy Harper and

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle (band), Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and ...

as well as partnering jazz musicians such as Steve Lodder, Dominic Ashworth and Jim Mullen. He has also toured with

Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist and composer. Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He grew up studyin ...

, Loose Tubes, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Grand Union Orchestra, living in Germany and Hong Kong as well as the UK. After meeting

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

at the Edinburgh Festival in 1982 he joined the TRB, touring extensively with the band, he appeared on the albums ''Hope and Glory'' (1984), ''Still Loving You'' (1986) and ''Love Over Rage'' (1994). He part composed Tom Robinson's top ten hit " War Baby" (1983), writing and playing the distinctive tenor and soprano saxophone parts. In 1995 he composed and recorded the pipe organ and saxophone album Above The Clouds(2002)
''The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002 (Europa International Who's Who in Popular Music)''
Routledge, 1st ed. p. 309. with Steve Lodder (re-released Naxos 1999) in a North London Church. His other critically acclaimed work includes Chilled with

Jim Mullen Jim Mullen (born 26 November 1945) is a Scottish, Glasgow-born jazz guitarist with a distinctive style, like Wes Montgomery before him, picking with the thumb rather than a plectrum. Biography Jim Mullen was guitarist with Pete Brown & Piblo ...

and Andy Hamill and Tribute to Paul Desmond with Dave Cliff. In addition to his musical career, he has written reviews, profiles and technical pieces for Musician magazine, Making Music, Crime Time, and life style pieces for Dempster's magazine where he interviewed

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

. He has also regularly published fiction and articles for titles such as Skin Two, Latex Extra, Desire and The Erotic Review. His articles appeared in many fetish magazines. He was editor of Fetish Times in the mid-1990s and until 2009 was a regular columnist for Forum Magazine. In 2008 he published the young adult novel War School. He has completed a collaboration with his wife, illustrator Ruth Ramsden, on the Dark Tantra Tarot tarot deck. In August 2015, he published: Dread - The Art of Serial Killing, with Number 13 Press. and in November 2018, he published Mistress Murder with Fahrenheit Press.

Books

* The Dark Magus and the Sacred Whore (Serpents Tail 1999) * The Dungeon Master's Apprentice (Serpents Tail 1999) * Radical Desire – non fiction with Housk Randall (Serpents Tail 2000) * The Sacred Blood (Serpents Tail 2001) * War School (Matador 2008) * Radical Desire: Kink & Magickal Sex - non fiction with Ruth Ramsden (Mandrake Of Oxford 2012) * Dread - The Art of Serial Killing (Number 13 Press 2015) ASIN B0137R82FM * Mistress Murder (Fahrenheit Press 2018)

Additional sources

* Jazz Journa
Jazz Journal
* Rough Guide to Jazz by Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather & Brian Priestly * Garden of Uranium * When The Circus Comes To Town

References

External links

Mark Ramsden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsden, Mark 1956 births Living people Musicians from Liverpool